Never Let Go
by HungerGamesLover4ever
Summary: This is a Fanfic I have been working on in which Cato and Clove are in love. It follows Clove for the first two chapters, until she dies, and then switches to Cato's point of view, showing his reaction, and things that happen to him until he dies.
1. Chapter 1

_**Alrighty, here we go, chapter one *crosses fingers and hopes it's alright***_

_**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Hunger Games, or Cato and Clove, none of it :/ I wish XD. Hope you enjoy the first chapter!**_

Twisting my knife gently on the tip of my finger, I listen to the wind around me. A light breeze trails across my senses, the sweet smell of pine filling the air, the coolness tingling on my skin, and the sound of it moving through me. I become lost in thought, staring blankly into the darkness and becoming distracted by the memory of earlier this morning…

"_Clove…" I stir, turning my face to look at him._

"_Yes, Cato?" His face looks pained, causing me to turn my body in his direction, worry crossing my face as I trace his cheek gently with my fingertips "What is it? What's wrong?" _

"_Please….please just be careful." He whispers, staring at me, then sitting up and turning his gaze to look at the ground on his right. Today is the feast, there are six of us left, including me and Cato. _

_My expression softens and after sitting up as well, I take his chin in my hands, turning his face back toward me. "Look at me…" His eyes are still averted, staring at the grass, and I am forced to crane my neck down, getting in the way of his gaze. "I will be. I promise…not that I need to be." Finally looking at me, he opens his mouth to argue, but I beat him to it. "You'll find Thresh and he'll be no match for you with your sword. The red headed girl from five…I doubt she'll even show up, and if she does I can kill her easily. Lover boy is probably on his death bed as we speak, you know where you cut him. And Katniss…she'll be a challenge but I can take her. She's good, I'll admit, but I'm better…" I have to turn his gaze back to me "We're better." Our eyes meet. "Alright?" He nods solemnly, wrapping his arms around me gently and resting his face in the crook of my neck. I hug him back softly, whispering in his ear "Stop acting like this is the last time you'll see me." As he doesn't respond, I'm forced to push him away slightly so that he will look at me again. A grin crosses my face "I'll see you for dinner." He still looks reluctant, "By tonight we'll be back in the capitol, sitting down to a fancy supper and preparing ourselves to go home, victors Cato…together. We'll get to live in the victors' village; we'll be famous, rich… no one will ever look down on us again." I finally get a small grin out of him and he stands, pulling me up with him. I give a light laugh, staring up at him. _

"_Together…" He mutters quietly, seemingly testing out the word "victors…together." I watch a grin cross his face, a gleam in his eyes more noticeable in the moonlight. _

"_Together." I confirm, thankful for the darkness as a small blush and look of longing fills my expression when he kisses my cheek lightly. I feel a small flutter inside my chest that I had never felt before in my life…except for the other night when he kissed me. _

The memory quickly shifts into that day.

_Cato and I were laughing about the helpless look the district 3 boy had on his face when Cato killed him. It was good to see him happy again, especially compared to the night before. He had kicked around cans, screamed, even beat the ground with his fists. It took ten minutes for Marvel and I to calm him down, not that marvel helped much. He had been a wreck since the tracker-jacker incident. We weren't sure why, but I had my suspicions that something was going on between him and his district partner, Glimmer, who died during the attack. He wasn't helping in any way, yelling and cursing at Cato to calm down, that food wasn't everything and we'd all be fine. I shoved him out of the way, telling him he needed to calm down, and that maybe he should go search for whoever was responsible for helping the person blow up our supplies. There was no way they did it on their own. He snarled at me, grabbing a spear and walking into the forest. "Idiot." I remember mumbling, then calming Cato. We waited until nightfall, only a few hours, and as soon as we discovered the district 3 boy was the only death, we made our way into the woods._

_We searched all of the next day for Katniss, and in the middle of the day heard two cannons "Maybe Marvel found her…" We both thought so, we were sure of it, sure he'd be at the lake, so we turned to head back. As we reached the lake, we heard the anthem start as darkness filled the arena, and we turned our gaze to the sky. To our surprise, Marvel's face was in the sky along with the little girl from eleven's. We couldn't believe it._

_As shocked as we were about Marvel's death, Cato and I continued our hunt for Katniss. "I wonder why Lover Boy's face isn't up there yet, maybe katniss found him and they're down there making kissy faces at each other." I laughed at it, but Cato didn't seem to find it funny, he was so quiet that day, lost in thought. I rolled my eyes, not caring. As we walked deeper into the woods, nearing the river, an announcement rang through the arena "Attention tributes…there has been a slight…rule change." 'What? A rule change?' I wondered. "Under the new rule, both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive." The next thing I'm aware of as Claudius Templesmith repeats the change is Cato stepping in front of me, leaning against a tree. "Come on Cato move, we need to keep searching." I told him, annoyed he was in my way. _

"_What if we don't." He suggested._

"_Well why would we stop when it's much more fun to spill someone's blood?" I tried to push past him and one of his arms wrapped around me. I tried to shove away, confused, scared for a moment he might kill me. It surely would be easy for him, it took only a matter of seconds to kill that boy. "Cato, what are you doing?"_

_It was completely unexpected, uncalled for, took me by surprise when he took my face in his hands and kissed me. My eyes widened and I didn't know what to do, but I found myself raising onto my toes to reach him better and entangling a hand in his hair, pulling myself as tall as I could. The emotions that ran through me at that moment were intense, especially since I had never experienced them. My entire life all I had known was pressure, anger, hopelessness, determination to be the best…and now all of it had melted away into a wild jumble of passion, intensity, and a strange sort of calmness. My muscles relaxed as I kissed him back, not wanting it to end. He wrapping his arms around me, raising me higher and holding me up. After a little, the kiss slowed down, gentler, close to ending as we both needed to breathe. Cato set me down gently, then almost reluctantly parted from me. After taking in a few big breathes of air, I had just stared at him, confused, shocked, and…happy. "What was that..?" I got out quietly, blushing slightly at the way he looked at me. His gaze so full of admiration, happiness, gentleness, and would I dare say…love? I didn't understand. I didn't understand why he did what he did, or why I kissed back. I didn't understand how these feelings rose up in me…what was happening to me? I don't blush. I don't laugh, I don't often smile. I'm not calm, or loving, but…that seemed to be all I was capable of at that moment._

_He didn't respond to my question, but instead, kissed me lightly again, a teasingly light brush of our lips. And that was all I needed to send shivers through me. A realization hit me. I had liked Cato since the day I met him. He was the only boy I ever looked at, chose to fight with, longed to be touched by even to just shake hands as a friendly gesture. I'd been in love with him for years, and only now realized it. 'How long had he felt like this toward me?' I wondered silently to myself. My heart beat had quickened as his arms stayed around me and all we did was look at one another. _

_Ever since that night all I could think about when I looked at him was that kiss, my feelings, and how I wanted him to hold me like that, kiss me like that again._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Ah sadness to come :'( Anyway, thanks for the reviews and favorites and alerts, means a lot to me! **_

_**Again, Disclaimer: Characters and stories aren't mine still ;( although I love them, they belong to Suzanne Collins, but you knew that.**_

I'm snapped back into reality as I feel the sharp sting of the knife cutting my skin "Ow!" I whisper, jerking my hand away from the blade and frowning at the cut in the tip of my finger which is now dripping blood. I stick my finger in my mouth, trying to ease the pain, wondering when the feast is going to start...and then I realize it already has. I hadn't noticed at first that the area around me was much lighter, still dim, but it was definitely dawn. "Damn it." I push off of the tree quickly, running the small distance to the edge of the forest and watching as the girl with the red hair disappears into the forest. I curse silently at myself. I missed my chance to kill her, now Cato and I will have to hunt her down. I bite my lip in anger, drawing a knife in each hand and tasting blood as I stand behind a tree to keep hidden as I watch. Katniss should be coming soon. She wouldn't give up an opportunity like this, that isn't her style.

It's only a few moments before I see her, sprinting full speed toward the table in front of the cornucopia. I jump out from behind the tree, running after her and throwing my first knife. I curse silently as she deflects the knife with her bow, sending it to the ground. She must have known I was coming. I should have expected what happens next as I see the arrow heading for me, and I try to dodge it completely, turning my body. I feel a sharp stabbing pain as it embeds itself in my left arm, digging into me near the muscle. I stop momentarily, hissing quietly at the pain as I pull out the arrow, throwing it to the ground and pulling open the sleeve of my jacket. It's not too deep or too bad. After those few moments are taken up to take in the damage, I look up again, transferring the second knife to my right hand, ready to throw.

Running toward her again, I throw my second knife and watch it hit the side of her forehead, making a deep cut. I grin as I see the blood gushing down, and easily doge the next arrow, barreling into her. She lets out a sound of struggle and tries to get away, but I easily have her pinned, digging my knees into her shoulders and feet into her hands. My weight is enough, and distributed evenly enough to keep her down. She should give up now, I have her exactly where I want her and I mean to savor the moment.

Leaning down to be closer to her I start talking, my voice a taunting purr. "Where's your boyfriend, district 12? Still hanging on?" I coo with a smile.

"He's out there now, hunting Cato" She nearly growls up at me, raising her head slightly, then screaming, "Peeta!"

I quickly smash my fist into her throat, effectively cutting off her screams and depriving her of air. Panic fills me for a moment. If she's telling the truth and Peeta really is here, better, I could be in Danger…But he wouldn't be better by now. He's probably almost dead. After a minute or so, no Peeta comes and I turn back to her, grinning. "Liar. He's nearly dead. Cato knows where he cut him. You've probably got him strapped up in some tree while you try to keep his heart going" I continue with the taunting voice as earlier, soft, cooing, trying to get a reaction out of her. "What's in the pretty little backpack? That medicine for Love Boy? Too bad he'll never get it." I contort my expression into sorrow, pretending to have sympathy, then the grin returns. I'm going to enjoy this, take my time, nice and slow for The Girl on Fire. The girl who took away our sponsors, who thought she was better than us. The girl the man I love hates, and thus I hate too. Yes, I don't think I'll be having much mercy for her.

I bring my fingers to the edge of my jacket, pulling the right side open and waving my fingers around, trying to select the right knife. A wide grin comes to my face as I take out one I've been saving, just for her. A wickedly curved knife with a cruel, sharp, almost delicate blade. It's light weight, easy to work with, definitely not for throwing, much more useful for a carving session like we're going to have. "I promised Cato if he let me have you, I'd give the audience a good show." She struggles, trying to get me off of her, but of course it's no use, I have her trapped. "Forget it District Twelve." I nearly hiss, keeping my knees dug into her shoulders "We're going to kill you just like we did your pathetic little ally….what was her name? The one who hopped around in the trees? Rue?" I tip my head with a small smirk at the fiery look in her eyes. I've struck a chord. "Well first Rue, then you, and then I think we'll just let nature take care of Lover Boy. How does that sound?" She keeps her mouth shut, lips pressed tightly together as she refuses to give me an answer.

I take her face in my left hand, wiping carelessly at the blood trickling down from her wound. "Now, where to start?" I turn her face harshly from side to side, looking at every part of it, trying to figure out how I want to begin this gory session. Katniss attempts to bite my hand and I roughly grab her hair, forcing her head back to the ground and holding it there "I think…" I tip my head back and forth contemplating, then grin "I think we'll start with your mouth." I give a small laugh as she clamps her mouth shut in defiance. I trace the tip of the knife lightly around the outline of her lips, fingers itching to get started. But I need to take my time with this, really make her pay for our humiliation. She stares me in the eyes, a hard, murderous look in them which makes me feel only more accomplished. "Yes, I don't think you'll have much use for your lips anymore. Want to blow Lover Boy one last kiss?" I provoke her.

I'm not expecting it as she spits in my face, covering it with her saliva and blood that has run into her mouth. I make a sound between a scream of rage and a disgusted shriek. Rage fills me and I wipe across my face with one of my sleeves to clear the mess. "Alright then. Let's get started." I growl, gripping the handle of the knife and making the first cut in the top of her lip with the tip of the knife. As I'm about to continue, I feel my body lifted upward and I let out a surprised scream. Panic fills me, along with complete, utter desperation and fear. There's only one person in this arena that could have a hold on me at this moment. Thresh. Cato must not have found him in time, or must have misjudged where he was. I continue to scream, kicking my legs, trying to get free…but it's no use. He's bigger and stronger than I am.

After minutes of dangling from his arms, a foot off the ground, he turns me and throws me carelessly. I feel my breath leave me for a moment as I make contact with the grassy floor of the arena, and as soon as it's regained I stare up at him, breathing quickened, dread filling me. I jump slightly as he shouts at me "What'd you do to that little girl? You kill her?"

I begin to scramble backward frantically, my feet slipping, causing me to fall flat on my back a few times. How did he get to me? Cato was supposed to find him, he was supposed to kill him, we were so sure we knew where he would be. I'm in shock. "No! No, it wasn't me!" I reply, still in a frenzy to get away from it all. I'm nowhere near my knives…where is Cato?

He speaks again, harshly, as loud as before "You said her name. I heard you. You kill her?" I shake my head, breathing heavily and trying to snap out of it, to get up and run. Another thought must have occurred to him, I realize, as I notice the look on his face reflect even more rage than before "You cut her up like you were going to cut up this girl here?"

"No! No, I-" I'm done for…he has a rock that is roughly the size of a loaf of bread. I lose it, feeling more desperate than before. "Cato! Cato!" I scream. I don't think I've ever screamed louder in my life. The rock makes contact with my skull and I know I'm a goner. I hit the ground, moaning at the pain, and I hear his voice vaguely, calling for me, "Clove!" Memories begin to flash through my head...When Glimmer kissed him and he literally had to lift me off the ground and hold me captive to keep me from slitting her throat before the games even started. The first time I saw him in district 2, standing triumphantly over another young boy he had won a fight with. When he kissed me for the first time the other night, holding me gently as if he would hurt me, and not letting go as if he was afraid I wasn't real...and now it will all be gone. I'll never get my life with Cato. Never live with him in the victors' village. Never hear him ask me for my hand in marriage. Never get the chance to have an argument over whether we want children, then cry at the sight of a young child in my arms with both of our features. All of it gone in the blink of an eye. I wish he were here. I wish I had told him how I felt. I wish he could hold me one more time and tell me it would be alright. Kiss me one more time like I so long for him to. I can feel the blood inside my head, pooling around my brain as I bleed out internally. I hear him again, "Clove…" his voice is pained, he knows I'm on the ground now. 'He'll never know I love him' I think to myself as I mouth 'I love you…' Never getting to finish the sentence with his name as my vision blurs to darkness, forever.


	3. Chapter 3

_**This is where I switch it up, and the story continues from Cato's point of view. Thanks to the people who reviewed :D it's what keeps me going.**_

**_Once again, Disclaimer: Sadly, sadly I don't own The Hunger Games or Cato and Clove, the lovely Suzanne Collins does. But I wish I did D_;**

An anxious feeling creeps through me as I wait for Thresh to make his appearance. It's been nearly three hours now, give or take, and I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever show. Whipping my head in several directions, I search for him, feeling an urgency for him to come. Maybe we miscalculated where he would be? But she was so sure this is the route he would take. Clove. Thinking about her, alone at the feast, makes me more nervous and anxious to fight Thresh and get back to her…so where is he? I'm ready for him. Shaking my head, I roll my eyes, and, partially for the cameras, I begin to toy with my sword. I draw it from the sheath and twirl it in my hand a few times before lashing out at the air. I make the doubtful, worried thoughts running through my head unreadable in my expression as I have a brutal battle with an imaginary Thresh. Questions begin to taunt me 'What if Thresh is already there and Clove is in danger?' 'What if you don't get Katniss?' 'What if she dies because you let her go there alone?' what if, what if, what if. I strike out, lodging the sword in a tree this time. I struggle for only a moment to pull it out, and right as the metal slips out of the wood, I hear the faintest scream and I freeze up. For a moment I think it's Clove, but why would she be screaming? I smirk as I realize, that must be Katniss. Clove has probably got her down, showing her what we do to people who show us up, and harm us. I twirl the blade again, then slide it back into the sheath, picking up my spear and going to sit down. I feel pretty good about today, relaxed as I assume my waiting for Thresh, until I hear my name being screamed. The voice is undeniably Clove's, and I take off without a second thought. "Clove!" I call back, running as swiftly as my legs can possibly carry me, and just hoping I get there in time. By the volume of her voice, she's far away. As I run, desperation to reach her driving me forward, I smack into trees and bushes, but I could care less. I hear her scream for me again, her voice so full of fear, longing, desperation. The same desperation I'm feeling to get to her. My face is red now I'm guessing, I'm out of breath, and my ribs are starting to cramp, but I keep running. Faster than I ever have. I'm closer now, so close I can see the clearing. My spirits rise for only a moment, until I see a sprawled out figure on the ground, along with two other moving figures. "Clove!" I call out again, pain filling my voice as I know it's her lying there, and I realize I'm too late. I keep running, a whole new wave of desperation driving me forward.

As soon as I reach the clearing, my legs feeling as if they'll never move again, my eyes show me what I've only seen in nightmares. There she is, the only person who ever bothered to care about me, lying on the ground, motionless, soundless, almost lifeless. "Clove!" The sound escaping my mouth is a strangled cry, something I've never heard push past my lips before, and then I feel my body jerking forward without permission, proving my earlier thought incorrect. No matter how tired I feel, I've now discovered, there is nothing that could stop me from reaching her at this moment. No tribute, no Gamemaker interference, no injury, nothing. The human need for her to survive overpowers everything else. I barely keep a hold on my spear as my world spins around me, crashing down like a building hit in the cross fire of a war. "Clove…" I've reached her now and I feel the sensation of falling as my knees give out and I make contact with the ground near her. The spear drops from my hands and for a moment I just sit there, leaning back on my legs, not believing what is happening. I stare at her body for a long time, hearing nothing around me, seeing nothing but her, and feeling confused? Peaceful even? Because of course this is a dream. I mean, there's no way this is real, no! I refuse to believe it! Only a few hours ago she was smiling up at me, saying goodbye. Goodbye…goodbye to head to the feast. The feast with Thresh, who I was supposed to keep away, but I didn't. Dread fills me and I blink, only now seeing her as she really is. A huge dent in the corner of her forehead, she's completely unresponsive and the only sound she is making is a tortured moan of pain.

"Clove…" I mutter again, leaning down and touching her cheek gently, still thinking maybe this is all fake, some joke, that of course she's just sleeping or faking, right? "Clove, wake up…" I hear my voice as a small child's would sound, still in a daze. I cannot fathom the truth of what's going on. "Clove!" my voice raises and I shake her gently, panic flooding over me, my heart beat quickening and my breathing becoming unsteady. I watch the rapid rise and fall of her chest and bend over, bringing her up into my arms and holding her, desperation filling my voice as I try to get a response out of her. "Please…Clove, please answer me…" Nothing. I shake her gently in my arms again, gulping "Clove…Clove!" I need something, anything to just wake her up! This cannot be happening, she has to be okay…I can't… "Clove…please I can't live without you, I can't handle this world without you here by my side to help me through it!" No response. I watch as the rise and fall of her chest slows down, and breathing starts to become a challenge for her. Her breaths are shallow, and slowing down. I feel a few tears slip down my cheeks as I realize I am truly losing her. I'm losing the girl who kept me sane through training, who kept me from harming myself when my father would abuse me, the girl who pushed me so hard to be the best person I am, the girl who I promised myself I would keep safe…the girl I will never forgive myself for failing to save. Her name is choked out now "Clo-" I can't even finish it as a small sob escapes me. I've never felt more desperate as I set her down again, my breathing rapid and almost as shallow as hers is becoming. I look down at her, tangling my hands in my hair and pulling it as I stare down at her helplessly, her dark hair pooled around her as it was the other night. She lays there peacefully as she does when she sleeps, she could be asleep and I would believe it, if it weren't for the pained sounds she makes, mixed with my own. "Clove please just wake up…" I'm begging now. I need her. "Please stay with me, don't leave me here alone!" I let the feeling take over, let my surroundings melt away as all I care about is getting her to respond, to laugh it off and tell me she'll be fine like she usually does. A few muffled sobs get out with my breathing, and I lean down, pulling her up to me, hugging her close. I realize how limp her body is, how her breathing has all but stopped, the way her head cranes back unless I hold it up, and another sound escapes me. One I've never made in my life, never thought I _could _make. I find myself unable to speak as tears now blur my vision completely and sobs choke me as I try to draw in breaths, which are sharply rejected.

A cannon goes off somewhere, but I refuse to acknowledge it, refuse to hear it. I kiss her forehead gently, now able to choke out simple words "Please…" I bring my ear to her chest, willing it to hear a heart-beat, but nothing is there, just the slight sound of blood throbbing in my ears. I lose it, not knowing what to do and letting my body shake, letting my sanity, or rather what's left of it, slowly slip away. "No…no, no, no!" I pull her up and kiss her, pressing my lips shakily to hers, although I know it's no use. "Please, Clove!" I sob, watching my tears spill onto her face and rolling down her cheeks as if they were her own. Nothing happens. "Please…" I beg again, kissing down her face and ending up burying myself in her body, crying, shaking. I keep my face in the crook of her neck as I hold her to me, unable to stop the feelings welling up inside me. Weakness, denial, regret, guilt, loss, desperation. All of the feelings mesh together, and as much as I try to stop them, the sobs still wrack my body, sounding choked as they force their way out of my throat.

She's gone, the one thing that ever truly mattered to me, and it's my fault.


End file.
